When I told people back home in North Carolina I was heading to Indiana for college, most of them looked at me like I’d lost my mind. But I’d done my homework.
Purdue’s engineering program is world-class, and compared to peer institutions, the price tag was something I could actually stomach. I’ve still had to take out loans, but I made a calculated bet that a Purdue degree would be worth it.
That bet only pays off if my education actually prepares me for a career that lets me repay what I borrowed. That’s why I’m grateful Sen. Todd Young is fighting for exactly that kind of accountability with the Student Protection and Success Act.
The bill is straightforward in the best way: If a school can’t get at least 15% of its graduates on track to repay their loans within three years, it loses access to federal student aid. Schools would also pay a fee based on how much of their students’ loan debt goes unrepaid, real “skin in the game,” as the bill puts it.
Those funds would then flow back to institutions actually serving low-income students well.
This is the right idea. Right now, too many schools collect federally backed tuition dollars without any real consequence when graduates can’t find jobs that cover their debt. That’s not a partnership; it’s a blank check.
I left home and crossed several states because I believed Purdue was investing in my future. Sen. Young’s legislation would require every institution receiving federal money to make that same commitment to every student who arrives on campus.
For the millions of us repaying loans while trying to launch careers, that accountability is long overdue.
Brooks Boline is a senior at Purdue studying industrial engineering.